About the Author

Betsy Maestro taught kindergarten and first grade for eleven years and earned a master's degree in elementary guidance. She has collaborated with her husband, Giulio, on more than forty-five books for young children, including The Story of the Statue of Liberty, A More Perfect Union: The Story of Our Constitution, an ALA Notable Book, as well as Delivery Van: Words for Town and Country and All Aboard Overnight: A Book of Compound Words. She lives in Connecticut.

Giulio Maestro is an author and artist who has illustrated more than 100 books for young readers, including Liberty or Death: The American Revolution: 1763-1783, which was co-written with his wife, Betsy Maestro, and What Do you Hear When Cows Sing: And Other Silly Riddles, which was co-written with his son, Marco Maestro. He lives with his wife, Betsy, in Old Lyme, Connecticut

Reviews

This prolific team tackles the advent of legal tender and a mini-history of economics in their latest picture book. The concept of barter is introduced and then shown evolving into the modern practice of trading money for goods and services. Currency's physical development is also chronicled, from Native American wampum to Spanish ``pieces of eight'' to various European precious metal coins and printed paper bills. Although the text contains a vast array of factoids, their presentation lacks style and excitement. The dry, straightforward sentence structure fails to illuminate this topic's potentially engrossing aspects. Giulio Maestro's detailed, historically accurate illustrations, rendered in muted pencil, watercolor and crayon, prove serviceable without adding much spark. This volume will be useful in classrooms and libraries for its noteworthy effort to place a concept within historical contexts. Ages 7-10. (Mar.)